NFL playoff picture: 2 reasons why Sunday was a good day for the Eagles

Time for a look at the updated NFL playoff picture now that all NFC teams are done playing in Week 12.

Sunday was a good day for the Philadelphia Eagles in two major respects.

1) The Eagles beat the Los Angeles Rams.
Winning this game was essential for Philly’s hopes of catching the Detroit Lions for the No. 1 seed.

Had the Eagles lost in LA, they probably would’ve needed to win out and have the Lions lose at least three times.

Instead, with a win, the Eagles are keeping pressure on Detroit to not slip up. And the Lions’ schedule is more difficult than the Eagles’ slate.

Eagles’ remaining schedule
Remaining strength of schedule: .463, 10th easiest in the NFL

Week 13 — at Baltimore Ravens
Week 14 — vs. Carolina Panthers
Week 15 — vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 16 — at Washington Commanders
Week 17 — vs. Dallas Cowboys
Week 18 — vs. New York Giants

Lions’ remaining schedule
Remaining strength of schedule: .591, 6th most difficult in the NFL

Week 13 — vs. Chicago Bears
Week 14 — vs. Green Bay Packers
Week 15 — vs. Buffalo Bills
Week 16 — at Chicago Bears
Week 17 — at San Francisco 49ers
Week 18 — vs. Minnesota Vikings

The Lions losing to the Packers would be especially nice for the Eagles’ sake.

#Eagles NFC 1 seed tiebreaker scenarios! All 15-2 & 14-3 scenarios below.

Main takeaways:
1) Only way Eagles win 15-2 tiebreaker is if DET’s loss is specifically to GB.
2) Eagles win 14-3 tiebreaker if only loss is to BAL or PIT & DET’s losses include GB *or* are both NFC. pic.twitter.com/3dZLtIsGPl

— Deniz Selman (@denizselman33) November 25, 2024

2) The Eagles gained more cushion atop the NFC East.
We already outlined how the Eagles got help from the Dallas Cowboys beating the Washington Commanders. As a refresher:

The Commanders’ loss is especially damaging to their chances of contending for the NFC East crown since it drops them to 2-2 in division games while the Eagles are 3-0. Even if the Commanders win the rest of their division games (vs. Eagles, at Cowboys), the Birds just have to beat the Cowboys and Giants (both games in Philly) to secure the division record tiebreaker (5-1 over 4-2).

The Eagles should have their sights set higher than merely winning the division. But that’s obviously an important step.

1) Philadelphia Eagles: 9-2
2) Washington Commanders: 7-5
3) Dallas Cowboys: 4-7
4) New York Giants: 2-9

Here’s the entire NFC playoff picture leaving Week 12.

PROJECTED PLAYOFF TEAMS
DIVISION LEADERS
1) Detroit Lions: 10-1
2) Philadelphia Eagles: 9-2
3) Seattle Seahawks: 6-5
4) Atlanta Falcons: 6-5

WILD CARD TEAMS
5) Minnesota Vikings: 9-2
6) Green Bay Packers: 8-3
7) Washington Commanders: 7-5

…

ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
IN THE HUNT

8) Arizona Cardinals: 6-5
9) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 5-6
10) Los Angeles Rams: 5-6
11) San Francisco 49ers: 5-6
12) New Orleans Saints: 4-7 (still alive in weak NFC South)

DEEPLY UNSERIOUS TEAMS

13) Chicago Bears: 4-7
14) Dallas Cowboys: 4-7
15) Carolina Panthers: 3-8
16) New York Giants: 2-9